Tarragon chicken is really easy to make. This is what you need (serves 4):
1 plump chicken, lovingly cut in six pieces by your friendly butch
100 g. of farm butter
a tablespoon of (olive) oil
200 ml of dry white win
1 chicken stock cube
6 or 7 fresh tarragon sprigs
a tablespoon of flour
salt and pepper (optional: depending on the saltiness of your stock cube)
Creamy farm butter from the village of Courcelles in Wallonia.
This is what you do:
Melt the butter in a pot and add the oil. The oil will stop your butter from burning or turning black. Sear the chicken pieces in the butter until nice and golden brown on all sides. Sprinkle the flour over the chicken and stir well. Add the white wine and keep on stirring until all the flour is dissolved. Add the sprigs of tarragon – set two aside till later – and the stock cube. At this point you can also add extra pepper and/or salt. I didn’t add any because the stock cube was strong enough to get the required seasoning. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
Put the lid on the pot and let simmer for an hour, stirring carefully every twenty minutes or so to stop the chicken from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Ready to be served!
After an hour, turn off the heat and set aside till the next day. Half an hour before serving, add the remaining tarragon sprigs to the pot and reheat the chicken on a low heat. Don’t let it come to the boil. Add extra pepper and/or salt to taste or some white wine is the sauce is too thick. Sunday’s preparation didn’t require any of these extra ingredients.
I served the chicken with ‘pommes croquettes’ and a mixed salad with a dash of extra virgin oil. Not a vinaigrette because that would have spoiled the delicate flavour of the fresh tarragon.
Et voilà, my ‘Goodbye chicken’. Simple, easy to make but utterly delicious!
4 comments:
Don't worry, you'll find another source for chicken, just won't be so convenient.
Chicken and tarragon are a match made in heaven.
I hope you find another butcher that you are happy with very soon.
Thanks for this super recipe Martine; I'm going to try it tonight as long as I can source some fresh tarragon...I guess you have not only lost a butcher but a good friend. I hope you find someone else to provide you with such lovely produce.
Bob, I guess you're right, but we really have the feeling that our village will never be the same again :(
Jean, It's such a simple and tasty dish that never disappoints.
Louise, I hope you've enjoyed your tarragon chicken. And yes, over the last 25 years my butcher and his wife have become real friends of ours. My mother and I are really going to miss them.
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